The thing I am coming to love most about the By Hand London patterns is they have these amazing cuts, great drafting and the patterns lend themselves to so many interpretations. I fear I may be a junkie for these patterns. I really adore their design aesthetic… as they describe themselves:By Hand London is an independent sewing pattern label for women who love to dress up, stand out and customise their own wardrobe. The designs themselves are an up-to-date take on classic silhouettes and so act as a canvas for your unique look. Creating patterns inspired by and named after the stylish ladies we know and admire, By Hand London is all about championing individual style and celebrating strong femininity.

What’s not to love about that! And they have just celebrated their first birthday. Happy birthday girls – looking forward to your second year!

I made the cropped version in the smallest size – it’s slightly shorter than it should be as I didn’t realise how badly silk dupioni can fray!!! I picked up the black silk from The Fabric Store in Sydney the morning after the Sydney June Meet-up High Tea. It was in the remanents bin – score!

The lining is a vintage silk sari that I found on ebay. The collar and cuffs are cut from the gilded edge of the sari. I pieced the collar and cuffs so the reverse is a matching pink linen (leftovers from my Tessuti jacket) to provide a little more body to the pieces as the sari is old and oh so soft & fine. The sari is gorgeous – if you are thinking about experimenting with these, the vintage ones can be a little stained and worn in places – however they are 5m long so you can cut around the ‘issue’ areas. Damage to mine was minor and for the princely sum of $20 (including delivery) I think it’s good value for 5 metres of silk!

By Hand Victoria Blazer – the Sari Edition & lining!

By hand Victoria Blazer – the Sari Edition, the cuffs

By Hand Victoria Blazer – the Sari Edition, the collar

By Hand London – the sari lining.

You might notice that I have only attached the collar band and not the lower lapels. I did attach the lower lapels but because the gild edges are prone to curling a little, they didn’t sit perfectly and looked a little wonky – that sort of thing bothers me tremendously. I knew that when I wore it I would be forever fiddling with them – and there is nothing worse than a girl tugging at her clothes – if you want to look effortless and stylish, constantly tugging and pulling at your clothes is not going to achieve that. So I took the lower lapels off. I’m much happier with the jacket with just the collar band.

I took three lots of pictures trying to get some nice ones… it’s tricky in winter, it is dark early and photographing black was not easy! So I ended up trying it with jeans, a black singlet, a white singlet and a black dress! At least it is versatile!

I hear there is another pattern just around the corner from the By Hand London girls – I can’t wait to try it!!! So far it’s been three out of three for these girls. A trifecta of sewing joy!

By Hand Victoria Blazer the Sari Edition with black singlet and skinny jeans!

By Hand Victoria Blazer – the Sari edition with a black slinky dress

It’s an easy make. Really easy. I did have to gather the sleeve heads ever so slightly as the silk dupioni was not very forgiving going into the armhole, just a tiny bit of gathering pulled it in perfectly. I might have been having a Doh! moment (which I am prone to) but the instructions did not seem to mention how to finish the lining armhole edges. I just turned them under and slipstitched them to the seam allowance of the armholes, like I did with the Elisalotte.

Next time around I would also line the sleeves. It would be easy to modify the pattern ever so slightly to accommodate the lining going over the armhole without pulling – plus the cuffs is a nice neat French seam so I think it will work beautifully.

It’s quite a boxy shape in the silk dupioni but I like it as an evening jacket, it’s got great structure. I can’t wait to make this in a fabric with some more drape, perhaps a ponti or wool…

76 thoughts on “BY HAND LONDON Silk Sari Victoria Blazer”

Wow, that’s a corker, I love it! I’ve been eagerly awaiting this post Lizzy and it was worth being patient, I love the pop of colour from the delicate sari lining and the cropped shape, it’s really lovely.

This looks great and I love the Sari! I’ve always loved the look of Silk Dupioni but had been afraid to sew with it. Good to know that it frays a lot, I’ll be ready for that when I finally make something out of it.

This is absolutely gorgeous Lizzy! I’m even more hyped about the Victoria sewalong now! I love the Sari you’ve used as lining, and the way you’ve used it on the cuffs is gorgeous! It’s lovely and sunny here today and all I want to do now is get tracing my Victoria blazer pattern and cut the fabric out, but I should force myself to get out in the sun in case it doesn’t last!

This is gorgeous with the contrast of the black dupioni and the colorful sari fabric! And you’re right, it’s so versatile that I’m sure you’ll be getting a lot of wear out of it. I just bought fabric for mine yesterday (I’m making the sleeveless version first) and this makes me even more excited to get going!

Every single version of this blazer I’ve seen has been just lovely and yours is no exception Lizzy! Beautifully made and as you say, it works perfectly as a chic evening jacket. I’m joining in the sewalong and am making mine from double knit – will let you know how I get on. x

Your blazer is gorgeous! I love the idea of the sari fabric and silk dupioni. It’s such a versatile pattern where you could make it for evening or day depending on fabric. I can’t wait to make one myself 🙂

This is sooo beautiful and it looks stylish and classic! Love the contrast of the collar being like the lining! I’m definitely joining the sewalong as I need another black version to wear all the time. 😛 glad you finished the lining the same as me. 🙂

Hi Lizzy. I echo everyone else’s comments. A beautiful and stunningly original jacket. You probably should be designing clothes as well as making them, as you have so much talent for lateral thinking in terms of use of materials and changes to design. That change to the lapel was inspired!
I particularly liked the photo of it over white: it made more of a feature of the gorgeous jacket due to the contrast. Well done!

Lizzie, it is totally darling – I absolutely adore everything about it & it is so “you”. The sari fabric is genius. I’ve nearly ordered it twice now, but have swooned too much over the new Anna dress – that has stirred me up in even more of a frenzy! But seeing your blazer is making me reconsider!

I’m going to have to look into this By Hand crowd as this is just lovely. I couldn’t agree more with you, by the way, when it comes to tugging at your clothes all the time. Damned annoying and people notice. The collar looks just fine as it is.

How wonderful to think that second hand saris are available online. What a treasure trove of loveliness and this jacket show cases it most beautifully. Clever use of it to great effect.